Here is your news for February 6, 2020.
We're starting today with news from NXT, as the big hook that was meant to be
Charlotte Flair answering Rhea Ripley's WrestleMania challenge didn't happen.
Instead, the segment between the two women mostly focused on Bianca Belair, who
said she didn't care about the Queen, before calling out Ripley, her NXT TakeOver:
Portland opponent.
This was when Flair came out to stir the pot between Belair and Ripley, at one point
holding her hand up to Bianca's face whilst she was talking, and at another moment,
telling the EST of NXT that this was a conversation for champions, i.e. herself and
Rhea, pointing out that Belair has yet to hold championship gold in WWE, and the ten-
time Women's Champion advised Belair to fix her braid.
These comments got some great reactions from the EST of NXT, and even the NXT
Women's Champion wasn't having any of it, as she said that though Belair and she will
be opponents at TakeOver, they're both NXT, and stick together.
With the 2-on-1 advantage, the NXT Superstars swiftly picked the Queen up and
dropped her on her face, and though we still don't have an answer about if Charlotte
is going to accept Ripley’s challenge, there's certainly bad
blood between Flair and the Nightmare.
Speaking of the NXT Women's Championship, it was just two weeks ago that
announcers began referring to it as the NXT Champion, as a way to highlight the
equality between male and female titles in WWE.
This change happened a day after Becky Lynch appeared on WWE Backstage and
suggested a change, saying that female wrestlers shouldn't be referred to as part of a
division since to some it comes across as if they are not quite on the level of the men.
She said:
"I think it’s now starting to hold us back where we are then going ‘oh, this is the
women’s segment, this is the women’s thing.’ Why do we need that division? We need
people, we need characters, we need people looking for the main event spot, not the
top women’s spot, the top spot.”
Now it looks like WWE is back to referring to Rhea Ripley as the NXT Women's
Champion, as that was the name used on this week's RAW, as well as on social media.
On the WWE on FOX Twitter account, the title was again called the NXT Women's
Championship, though it's unclear what prompted the WWE to go back to their
original naming, after a few weeks of dropping the Women's part of Ripley's
championship.
More NXT news now, as after months away from the ring, this week's show saw the
return of Velveteen Dream.
During the closing moments of the show, the Undisputed Era were brutalizing the
babyfaces at their mercy, including Tommaso Ciampa, where they wanted him
complete with a yellow X spray-painted on his back.
That was when the lights went down and a purple light hit, signaling the return of the
Dream, who appeared on the top rope to hit a dive on the heel quartet.
This was followed by Dream rallying on the Undisputed Era to close out the show,
standing tall.
It's great to see Velveteen Dream back after so many months away, and if Adam Cole
does retain his title at NXT Take Over Portland, then he may have already found his
next opponent.
We've got news from Brock Lesnar now, as though the Beast doesn't smile very often,
even he nearly broke down laughing when he shared the ring with R-Truth before the
Royal Rumble.
As Truth mistakenly believed that Paul Heyman was in the 30-man match, Lesnar
nearly cracked a smile, and Truth revealed in a recent interview with Spandex, that he
might have more dealings with the reigning WWE Champion.
In the interview, he said that Lesnar has been trying to come up with ideas himself, saying:
"Brock actually has been pitching ideas. He wants to work with me doing something
because of that segment. He pitched a couple of ideas. He and I talked afterwards. The
sky’s the limit.”
It's obvious that Truth has a lot of fun in the ring, as Carmella recently commented
that she misses working with him, and believes that they could have done a lot more
together.
Brock Lesnar obviously feels the same way about R-Truth and it will be interesting to
see if WWE figures out another way for their paths to cross once again.
Speaking of Lesnar, our reigning WWE Champion will be competing at Super
ShowDown, and though his opponent Ricochet will be the smaller man in the match,
he's not letting that hold him back.
Appearing on WWE's The Bump, Ricochet said that he's faced bigger man his entire
life, and he can't let any fear stop him from trying to defeat Lesnar and walk into
WrestleMania as WWE Champion. He said:
“My entire career has been fighting bigger people. That’s just what I was dealt. I know
that Brock is a different beast altogether. You can’t be scared. You can’t let being
scared stop you from overcoming an obstacle. You can’t let being scared stop you
from doing something or pursuing something.”
“Whether I’m scared or not I have to go out there and do this because like I said on
Monday I was 14-years-old when I started this journey and I just wanted to prove that
I could be one of the best out there and this is my chance to do that.”
"I’m ready for it. I know every one’s picked him to win. Everyone is saying that it’s
gonna end in less than 8 seconds and all that stuff. Everyone’s always doubted me my
whole career, so this is no different."
The One and Only has had people literally looking down on him due to his size,
meaning Super Showdown will be no different, but it'll take a lot more than self-belief
to topple the Beast Incarnate in Riyadh on February 27th.
We're going back in time now, as Ted DiBiase's son Brett didn't make it far in WWE
before his release in 2011, and whilst he went out and sought his own fortune he’s
now in a lot of trouble because of the way he went about things.
WJTV reports that special agents from the State Auditor have arrested several people
including Brett, quote "in connection with a multi-million- dollar embezzlement scheme."
These incidents come following an eight-month investigation, which found there was
a conspiracy to illegally obtain "millions in public funds from the Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families program," nad these indictments include a wide range of violations
from fraud to embezzlement.
The report continues that "Defendants used a variety of business entities and schemes
to defraud the taxpayers," whilst also noting that DiBiase was in a luxury rehab center
for his own drug use in California, and did not perform the services at the time.
With that said, documents were created, and payment was arranged quote “knowing
DiBiase was not performing the work he was hired to perform."
Whilst the total amount scammed in these plots to embezzle and scheme isn't
currently known, it's safe to say that it's a lot of cash.
The report states that the loss reportedly already exceeds any embezzlement scheme
in the Auditor's office records this Century, and if convicted, the accused could face a
combined "hundreds of years in prison."
We're heading back to WWE now, and the company's wellness policy is pretty strict
unless they test for marijuana, and one person who knows just how strict it can be is
Andrade, who reportedly didn't even test positve for anything, but still failed.
This is what is being claimed by former commentator Hugo Savinovich, who fans may
recall was the first to report about WWE’s issues getting back from Saudi Arabia.
On a recent post on Facebook, Savinovich claimed that Andrade's recent policy
violation wasn't because he tested positive for anything, saying:
"The situation with Andrade bothers me a lot because I have been one of those people
supporting him 100 percent – his reputation, his professionalism and his family
lineage. Now, while studying this case, I’ve found out some things. Wrestlers in the
company have much more information on this and how the drug testing works.”
He said that Andrade’s situation is similar to Primo Colon’s recent Wellness Policy
failure. If you recall Primo claims that he never took a test. Primo was in Puerto Rico at
the time and couldn’t get to the testing facility. Hugo Savinovich went on to explain
that the talk in the WWE locker room is that he’s innocent.
“Wrestlers in WWE have commented about this situation in the locker room, a world
where you’ll hear all sorts of things. Andrade, I dare say it publicly, I understand is
innocent.”
It has also been alleged that Andrade wasn't given a chance to explain himself before
his suspension was announced, and though he hasn't been stripped of the United
States Championship, his character was written out of storylines thanks to Humberto
Carrillo planting him with a Hammerlock DDT to the exposed concrete.
Fans shouldn't expect to see Andrade competing later this month at Super ShowDown,
but for the fans in Saudi Arabia, they may not see anyone at all at the show.
According to Wrestling Club, a WWE news source in the Middle East, there has been
no information regarding tickets for the show, as explained in a translated tweet that reads:
"So far, there is no announcement or details about the date of selling tickets and their
prices for the upcoming wrestling “Super Showdown” in Riyadh, although only 20 days
remain on the show!”
WWE will likely have no problem bringing in fans to Super Show Down thanks to the
passionate fans in the Middle East, even though they have no television there right now.
Hopefully, things get sorted soon, as the longer the company waits to put tickets on
sale, the worst things will look for them.
Of course, Super Showdown is just one stop on the road to WrestleMania, as the 36th
iteration of the grand daddy of them all will take place on April 5th, and the WWE is
always looking out for big cross over names they can bring in for the show.
There have been reports that WWE might bring Tyson Fury back, but that all depends
on his February 22nd fight against Deontay Wilder goes.
For now though Brad Shepard reports that WWE would also like to have former New
York Giants star Michael Strahan do something, possibly even in the ring.
With that said, stepping in the ring doesn’t mean he will be in a match, as there have
been plenty of celebrities have been in the ring at WrestleMania.
If they can get the retired NFL star in for a segment, it could definitely gain some
serious mainstream attention.
From one huge star to someone WWE have seemingly forgotten about, as according
to the United States Patent & Trademark Office, WWE’s trademark application on
EC3’s name was abandoned on January 25th.
This abandonment was due to WWE not responding to a notice of initial refusal from
last July, and given that the company had 6 months to respond and didn't, this doesn't
exactly bode well for EC3's career.
The initial refusal was due to EC3 already having a registered trademark on the name
on April 23 of last year, but WWE could revive their own application at a later date, if
they choose to keep the former 24/7 Champion under contract.
Another man who knows how it feels to be forgotten by WWE is Rusev, who wasn't on
RAW this week, though Lana, Liv Morgan and Lashley were.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was asked about why Rusev wasn't used,
and told listeners "creative didn’t have anything for him this week," often a line that
many Superstars hear before they're promptly released.
There was a rumour going around that the Bulgarian was suspended or injured, but
Rusev dismissed both accusations.
Simply put, it seems WWE just decided not to use him in Salt Lake City this week.
Backstage, there's still be no update on whether Rusev has signed a new WWE
contract, but we do know that his wife Lana did and they are still married despite the
rumors, and what's on TV.
Though he might still be ironing out the finer details of his new WWE deal, the fact
that he hasn't signed yet may be the reason why the company didn't use him, and
hopefully, Rusev won't have to hear the dreaded words, "creative has nothing for
you," anymore.
Now, earlier this week we reported on the signings of Timothy Thatcher and Killer
Kross, but now the WWE has signed another big name in Aja Smith.
At 25-years-old, Smith has done plenty in wrestling already, being the frequent tag
partner of AEW's Big Swole, and working on the indies in promotions such as Shine.
Whilst she''s got plenty of experience working with rising NXT star Shotzi Blackheart,
Smith will be trading her boots for a referee's shirt, as a report from the company states:
"Referee Aja Smith has signed with WWE and reported to the WWE Performance
Center, becoming the first African-American full-time female referee signed to WWE.
Smith competed across the United States, Japan and Mexico under the name Aja
Perera, and has held the SHINE Nova and Tag Team Championship. She will now don
the stripes and join the crew of referees who enforce the rules for NXT every week on
USA Network.”
The WWE's Performance Center YouTube channel also put out a pretty cool video
detailing Smith's road to WWE, and we'd like to wish her the best of success as the
newest member of the company's officiating team.
We're looking at WWE Backstage now, as this week's show may have had Drew
McIntyre, but didn't see an increase in viewership from last week.
Showbuzz Daily reports that WWE Backstage brought in 97,000 viewers to it's 11pm
slot on FS1, exactly the same amount they had the week prior.
With both Charlotte Flair and CM Punk appearing on next week's show, hopefully the
dup will be able to push
Backstage into cracking the 100,000 mark once again, and
although 97,000 isn't a great number, it's still far better than the 49,000 that
Backstage brought in during it's debut episode in its regular weekly spot.
We're once again going political, as this year's US State of the Union address may go
down as one of the most controversial of all time.
After President Trump refused to shake the hand of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the speaker
of the house ripped up her copy of the billionaire politician's speech, leading many
people to make comments on the actions of both people.
One person who commented was US Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio, who referred
to the State of the Union address as fake, comparing it to pro wrestling.
The dreaded f word for the pre- determined but very real when it comes to pain
industry, Ryan's comments were hit with a backlash from wrestlers, with Paige telling
Ryan to keep wrestling out of this, whilst Drake Maverick claimed the Congressman
was constantly fake.
The former 24/7 Champion didn't stop there, asking a commenter if they are aware
that movies are fake, and said that he'll defend the industry he works in until he can't
breathe again.
Pointing out that people have sacrificed their bodies for this so-called fake industry,
the usually comical Maverick was very serious when he said that he and his colleagues
won't be disrespected by someone who doesn't understand the business.
Dolph Ziggler commented that there are many similarities between wrestling and
politics, whilst AEW commentator Jim Ross said that the statement was ill-advised and
ignorant, and said that both sides of the political spectrum had made U.S. Politics an
embarrassment.
The irony of all this is that this all started because of a WWE Hall of Famer, and
Congressman Ryan may want to choose his words more carefully in the coming years.
And finally we're ending with news from the XFL, as despite the on-going lawsuit to
make sure that the football money is accounted for and separate from WWE funds,
the new season kicks off this Saturday.
Alyse Zwick may be one of the newest additions to WWE's backstage team, but the
new social media host already has a new gig.
This week, Zwick announced that she will be co-hosting a weekly XFL show with
Jonathon Coachman, and they plan to go over the week's worth of spring football, via
XFL's social media platform.
Time will tell just how well the relaunched XFL does, as Vince McMahon hopes to right
the wrong of the original disastrous XFL, which was cancelled after just one season.